Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDangos y teitl llawn

SECTION 1 Content and presentation

Article 9 List of mandatory particulars

1. In accordance with Articles 10 to 35 and subject to the exceptions contained in this Chapter, indication of the following particulars shall be mandatory:

(a) the name of the food;

(b) the list of ingredients;

(c) any ingredient or processing aid listed in Annex II or derived from a substance or product listed in Annex II causing allergies or intolerances used in the manufacture or preparation of a food and still present in the finished product, even if in an altered form;

(d) the quantity of certain ingredients or categories of ingredients;

(e) the net quantity of the food;

(f) the date of minimum durability or the ‘use by’ date;

(g) any special storage conditions and/or conditions of use;

(h) the name or business name and address of the food business operator referred to in Article 8(1);

(i) the country of origin or place of provenance where provided for in Article 26;

(j) instructions for use where it would be difficult to make appropriate use of the food in the absence of such instructions;

(k) with respect to beverages containing more than 1,2 % by volume of alcohol, the actual alcoholic strength by volume;

(l) a nutrition declaration.

2. The particulars referred to in paragraph 1 shall be indicated with words and numbers. Without prejudice to Article 35, they may additionally be expressed by means of pictograms or symbols.

3. Where the Commission adopts delegated and implementing acts referred to in this Article, the particulars referred to in paragraph 1 may alternatively be expressed by means of pictograms or symbols instead of words or numbers.

In order to ensure that consumers benefit from other means of expression of mandatory food information than words and numbers, and provided that the same level of information as with words and numbers is ensured, the Commission, taking into account evidence of uniform consumer understanding, may establish, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 51, the criteria subject to which one or more particulars referred to in paragraph 1 may be expressed by pictograms or symbols instead of words or numbers.

4. For the purpose of ensuring the uniform implementation of paragraph 3 of this Article, the Commission may adopt implementing acts on the modalities of application of the criteria defined in accordance with paragraph 3 to express one or more particulars by means of pictograms or symbols instead of words or numbers. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 48(2).

Article 10 Additional mandatory particulars for specific types or categories of foods

1. In addition to the particulars listed in Article 9(1), additional mandatory particulars for specific types or categories of foods are laid down in Annex III.

2. In order to ensure consumer information with respect to specific types or categories of foods and to take account of technical progress, scientific developments, the protection of consumers’ health or the safe use of a food, the Commission may amend Annex III by means of delegated acts, in accordance with Article 51.

Where, in the case of the emergence of a risk to consumers’ health, imperative grounds of urgency so require, the procedure provided for in Article 52 shall apply to delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Article.

Article 11 Weights and measures

Article 9 shall be without prejudice to more specific Union provisions regarding weights and measures.

Article 12 Availability and placement of mandatory food information

1. Mandatory food information shall be available and shall be easily accessible, in accordance with this Regulation, for all foods.

2. In the case of prepacked food, mandatory food information shall appear directly on the package or on a label attached thereto.

3. In order to ensure that consumers benefit from other means of provision of mandatory food information better adapted for certain mandatory particulars, and provided that the same level of information as by means of the package or the label is ensured, the Commission, taking into account evidence of uniform consumer understanding and of the wide use of these means by consumers, may establish, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 51, criteria subject to which certain mandatory particulars may be expressed by means other than on the package or on the label.

4. For the purposes of ensuring the uniform implementation of paragraph 3 of this Article, the Commission may adopt implementing acts on the modalities of application of the criteria referred to in paragraph 3 in order to express certain mandatory particulars by means other than on the package or on the label. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 48(2).

5. In the case of non-prepacked food, the provisions of Article 44 shall apply.

Article 13 Presentation of mandatory particulars

1. Without prejudice to the national measures adopted under Article 44(2), mandatory food information shall be marked in a conspicuous place in such a way as to be easily visible, clearly legible and, where appropriate, indelible. It shall not in any way be hidden, obscured, detracted from or interrupted by any other written or pictorial matter or any other intervening material.

2. Without prejudice to specific Union provisions applicable to particular foods, when appearing on the package or on the label attached thereto, the mandatory particulars listed in Article 9(1) shall be printed on the package or on the label in such a way as to ensure clear legibility, in characters using a font size where the x-height, as defined in Annex IV, is equal to or greater than 1,2 mm.

3. In case of packaging or containers the largest surface of which has an area of less than 80 cm², the x-height of the font size referred to in paragraph 2 shall be equal to or greater than 0,9 mm.

4. For the purpose of achieving the objectives of this Regulation, the Commission shall, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 51, establish rules for legibility.

For the same purpose as referred to in the first subparagraph, the Commission may, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 51, extend the requirements under paragraph 5 of this Article to additional mandatory particulars for specific types or categories of foods.

5. The particulars listed in points (a), (e) and (k) of Article 9(1) shall appear in the same field of vision.

6. Paragraph 5 of this Article shall not apply in the cases specified in Article 16(1) and (2).

Article 14 Distance selling

1. Without prejudice to the information requirements laid down in Article 9, in the case of prepacked foods offered for sale by means of distance communication:

(a) mandatory food information, except the particulars provided in point (f) of Article 9(1), shall be available before the purchase is concluded and shall appear on the material supporting the distance selling or be provided through other appropriate means clearly identified by the food business operator. When other appropriate means are used, the mandatory food information shall be provided without the food business operator charging consumers supplementary costs;

(b) all mandatory particulars shall be available at the moment of delivery.

2. In the case of non-prepacked foods offered for sale by means of distance communication, the particulars required under Article 44 shall be made available in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article.

3. Point (a) of paragraph 1 shall not apply to foods offered for sale by means of automatic vending machines or automated commercial premises.

Article 15 Language requirements

1. Without prejudice to Article 9(3), mandatory food information shall appear in a language easily understood by the consumers of the Member States where a food is marketed.

2. Within their own territory, the Member States in which a food is marketed may stipulate that the particulars shall be given in one or more languages from among the official languages of the Union.

3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not preclude the particulars from being indicated in several languages.

Article 16 Omission of certain mandatory particulars

1. In the case of glass bottles intended for reuse which are indelibly marked and which therefore bear no label, ring or collar only the particulars listed in points (a), (c), (e), (f) and (l) of Article 9(1) shall be mandatory.

2. In the case of packaging or containers the largest surface of which has an area of less than 10 cm² only the particulars listed in points (a), (c), (e) and (f) of Article 9(1) shall be mandatory on the package or on the label. The particulars referred to in point (b) of Article 9(1) shall be provided through other means or shall be made available at the request of the consumer.

3. Without prejudice to other Union provisions requiring a mandatory nutrition declaration, the declaration referred to in point (l) of Article 9(1) shall not be mandatory for the foods listed in Annex V.

4. Without prejudice to other Union provisions requiring a list of ingredients or a mandatory nutrition declaration, the particulars referred to in points (b) and (l) of Article 9(1) shall not be mandatory for beverages containing more than 1,2 % by volume of alcohol.

By 13 December 2014, the Commission shall produce a report concerning the application of Article 18 and Article 30(1) to the products referred to in this paragraph, and addressing whether alcoholic beverages should in future be covered, in particular, by the requirement to provide the information on the energy value, and the reasons justifying possible exemptions, taking into account the need to ensure coherence with other relevant Union policies. In this context, the Commission shall consider the need to propose a definition of ‘alcopops’.

The Commission shall accompany that report by a legislative proposal, if appropriate, determining the rules for a list of ingredients or a mandatory nutrition declaration for those products.